Stanzas 14 - 16 of “The Raven”

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

80 Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee —by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

83 Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

85 “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—

88 On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

91 “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

94 It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

29. In stanza 14 after the speaker decides what “nevermore” means, everything changes for the

worse. He starts pleading (makes an emotional appeal) with the fowl with “fiery eyes” (v. 74) because

he was expecting the raven to provide him with respite from his grief. However,

once again the raven utters, “Nevermore,” which angers the speaker.

30. In stanza 15, the speaker becomes even more agitated, and he begins yelling at

the raven. Now he accuses the raven of being a “thing of evil” (v. 85) sent by the

devil. In verses 88 and 89, he begs (implores) the raven to tell him if there is

“balm in Gilead,” which means that he wants to know if he will ever be freed from

the shadow of his grief. In other words, the speaker wants to know if he’ll ever stop

suffering from the loss of Lenore. Of course, the raven simply replies, “Nevermore.”

31. In stanza 16, what does the speaker want to know about the “distant Aidenn” (v. 93)?

The speaker wants to know if he will be reunited with Lenore in

heaven (Aidenn is heaven). Will he “clasp” or embrace his beloved Lenore again?

The raven once again answers, “Nevermore.”

Stanzas 17 and 18 of “The Raven”97 “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

100 Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

103 And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

106 And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted—nevermore!

32. The resolution . . . Because the raven brings the speaker a(n) bad/dark/evil message instead of good news about

Lenore, the speaker now views the raven as a curse, not a blessing.

Now what does the speaker want the raven to do (see stanza 17)? The speaker wants the raven to “quit the bust” above his door (v. 100) and go back to the Nightly shore because he’s making the speaker feel worse (“Take thy beak from out of my heart” v. 101).

33. Does the raven ever leave? yes / no

34. How does the poem end? happily / unhappily

35. At the end of the poem, where is the raven? He still is sitting on the bust of Pallas above the speaker’s chamber door.

The raven has eyes like a demon.

36. The raven symbolizes the speaker’s despair (the loss of all hope )

and his self - entrapment (which is the speaker’s own choice).

37. What’s the condition of the speaker at the end of the poem?

The speaker’s soul, his spirits, shall be lifted nevermore. What does this mean? (see notes below)

38. Nevermoredenotation - (adverb) not ever again; at no future time

connotation - negative; bad; the speaker will never see Lenore again, and The End

he’ll never be happy or have hope again; there’s no afterlifeThe speaker will never be happy again. He will permanently be in despair, forevermore. The raven forces the speaker to admit what he already thought.

He will never be reunited with Lenore, nor will he be freed from the “shadow” of his grief and despair (the shadow of the raven). Due to the late hour of the poem's setting and to the

speaker’s mental turmoil, the poem calls the speaker’s reliability into question. Furthermore,

the speaker is not necessarily recounting a literal visitation, but a figurative one. Thus, the speaker’s tale is more about his “opening the door” to darkness and bad thoughts that lead to a metaphorical death, rather than a physical or actual end to life.

unreliable speaker